BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ACTING Commissioner of Police (CoP) Ian Queeley has reported that his organization has tied illegal firearms that were removed from the streets of St. Kitts and Nevis in recent times to a number of crimes, including homicides.
Yesterday (Feb. 1) at the Prime Minister’s first press conference for the year, Queeley was asked by SKNVibes to speak to the number of firearm licenses issued in 2016 and to indicate whether or not any of the guns removed from the streets were found to be used in any of the crimes committed.
In his response, the CoP(Ag) explained that at least five of the weapons that were confiscated have been tied to crimes.
He also informed that following tests carried out on these, it was found that one was used in at least four murders.
“As a matter of fact, there was one instance where one firearm is connected to over four or five homicides. That is because of the acquisition of the comparison microscope that we got last year; we were able to match those rounds,” he said.
Gun-related crime has been a sore point for both government and law enforcement officials over the past several years. Many of the homicides committed are with the use of illegal firearms.
As such, the police, with the support of the Government, implemented a six-point plan of action which included increased patrols and stop and searches.
That resulted in consistent removal of illegal firearms from the streets. For last year alone, the Police Force reported the removal of 36 from the streets, while they have seized three thus far for the year.
However, that has not stopped the rampant gun violence from occurring on the streets of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“In essence, the firearms that were picked up are analysed [by] forensics; once there is a connection we would be able to proceed. If that firearm is taken from an individual then we move to the necessary step of prosecution,” explained CoP Queeley.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner said he was not in a position to give information on how many gun permits were issued last year.
Efforts to obtain the information from the Police Force’s Public Relations Office were unsuccessful as the calls made by SKNVibes were unanswered.
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